Audioweb
Encyclopedia
Audioweb were a rock
/reggae
/electronica
band
based in Manchester
, England
. They formed in 1991, originally as The Sugar Merchants.
. They scored two Top 40 hits
in the UK Singles Chart
- "Policeman Skank...(The Story Of My Life)", and a cover version
of The Clash
's "Bankrobber
". Famous admirers of the group were U2
and Ian Brown
. Audioweb supported U2 at Wembley Stadium
in August 1997. They also supported Madness
at Madstock '96 at Finsbury Park
, London
. Audioweb released their material
on the Mother Records
label
.
The band split up in 1999. Bassist
McCann played for Ian Brown and Badly Drawn Boy
and is currently working on an opera
; Maxfield has drummed for Ian Brown since 2001; File has been working with the singer-songwriter
Finley Quaye
; while Merchant's new Manchester band, SupaJamma have released 2 singles 'Madaboutit' & 'It's Alright', and mini album 'That Was Then, This is Now' mini album, on Stereokill Recordings in September 2011. Merchant is also the vocalist on the theme tune for the BBC show 'Rasatamouse'.
Track listing -
1] Sleeper (5.15)
2] Yeah? (4.00)
3] Into My World (4.20)
4] Faker (4.26)
5] Who's To Blame (4.05)
6] Time (4.18)
7] Jah Love (3.58)
8] Bankrobber (3.40)
9] Lover (4.30)
- A UK
special edition of the album
included a live
CD
; the six song disc included live versions of "Yeah", "Into My World", "Time", "Lover", "Sleeper" (performed at the Reading Festival, August 1996) and "Faker" (as performed at BBC Radio One Sound City festival, held in Leeds
in April 1996).
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
/electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
based in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. They formed in 1991, originally as The Sugar Merchants.
Personnel
- Martin "Sugar" Merchant (vocals)
- Sean McCann (bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) - Robin File (guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) - Robert "Maxi" Maxfield (drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s)
Career
The members sung or 'toasted' vocals on their musicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. They scored two Top 40 hits
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
- "Policeman Skank...(The Story Of My Life)", and a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
's "Bankrobber
Bankrobber
"Bankrobber" is a song, and single by The Clash. The song was not released on any of their studio albums, instead appearing on their compilation Black Market Clash...
". Famous admirers of the group were U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
and Ian Brown
Ian Brown
Ian George Brown is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses, which broke up in 1996 but are confirmed to reunite in 2012. Since the break-up of the Stone Roses he has pursued a solo career...
. Audioweb supported U2 at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
in August 1997. They also supported Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
at Madstock '96 at Finsbury Park
Finsbury Park
Finsbury Park is a 46 hectare public park in the London Borough of Haringey. Officially part of the London area of Harringay, it is also adjacent to Stroud Green, the Finsbury Park district and Manor House. It was one of the first of the great London parks laid out in the Victorian...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Audioweb released their material
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
on the Mother Records
Mother Records
Mother Records was a record label founded by the band U2 in 1984 and distributed by parent Island Records. The intent was 'to unearth fresh musical talent in Éire '...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
.
The band split up in 1999. Bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
McCann played for Ian Brown and Badly Drawn Boy
Badly Drawn Boy
Damon Gough is an English alternative music singer/songwriter. He was born on 2 October 1969, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He grew up in the Breightmet area of Bolton, Lancashire, England....
and is currently working on an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
; Maxfield has drummed for Ian Brown since 2001; File has been working with the singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Finley Quaye
Finley Quaye
Finley Quaye is a British musician. He won the 1997 Mobo Award for best reggae act, and the 1998 BRIT Award for Best British Male Solo Artist.-Life:...
; while Merchant's new Manchester band, SupaJamma have released 2 singles 'Madaboutit' & 'It's Alright', and mini album 'That Was Then, This is Now' mini album, on Stereokill Recordings in September 2011. Merchant is also the vocalist on the theme tune for the BBC show 'Rasatamouse'.
Albums
- AudiowebAudioweb (album)Audioweb is the eponymously titled debut album from the Manchester-based band. The album was released in the UK in October 1996, along with a 2CD limited edition version containing a bonus disc of 6 live tracks....
(1996) UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#70
Track listing -
1] Sleeper (5.15)
2] Yeah? (4.00)
3] Into My World (4.20)
4] Faker (4.26)
5] Who's To Blame (4.05)
6] Time (4.18)
7] Jah Love (3.58)
8] Bankrobber (3.40)
9] Lover (4.30)
- A UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
special edition of the album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
included a live
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
; the six song disc included live versions of "Yeah", "Into My World", "Time", "Lover", "Sleeper" (performed at the Reading Festival, August 1996) and "Faker" (as performed at BBC Radio One Sound City festival, held in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
in April 1996).
- Fireworks CityFireworks CityFireworks City is the second and final album by the rock/reggae influenced UK band Audioweb. It was produced by Steve Lironi and released in 1998 via Mother Records.-Track listing:#"Policeman Skank.....
(1998)
Singles
- "Sleeper" (1995) UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#74 - "Yeah?" (1996) UK #73
- "Into my World" (1996) UK #42
- "Sleeper" (remixRemixA remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
) (1996) UK #50 - "BankrobberBankrobber"Bankrobber" is a song, and single by The Clash. The song was not released on any of their studio albums, instead appearing on their compilation Black Market Clash...
" (1997) UK #19 - "Faker" (1997) UK #70
- "Policeman Skank...(The Story Of My Life)" (1998) UK #21
- "Personal Feeling" (1998) UK #65
- "Get Out of Here" (1998)
- "Test the Theory" (1999) UK #56